Ecuador Tribunal Orders Former Vice President Back To Prison

An Ecuadorean tribunal on Friday ordered former vice-president Jorge Glas, who served four-and-a-half years in prison on a bribery conviction, to immediately return to jail, annulling a decision that freed him last month.

Glas was sentenced to jail in 2017 after a court found him guilty of receiving bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht in return for giving the firm state contracts.

He was also convicted in 2020 of using money from contractors to fund campaigns for the political movement of former President Rafael Correa.

Glas was released in early April after a court in coastal Santa Elena backed a habeas corpus petition saying his well-being was at risk.

But a higher court in the same province annulled that decision after a petition from the SNAI prison agency, which argued that procedural errors mean Glas must serve the rest of his sentences for the convictions.

"The immediate locating, capture and transfer of citizen Jorge David Glas Espinel to the social-regional rehabilitation center Sierra Centro Norte Cotopaxi is decreed," the Santa Elena Justice Court said in a statement.

Glas' lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the interior ministry said it would comply with the court order.

Glas' first conviction carries a 6-year sentence. His conviction in the second case - where Correa was also sentenced - carries an 8-year term.

Correa has said the convictions are political persecution and is fighting extradition from Belgium, where he has lived since he left office.

"Evil has once again triumphed, but the definitive victory will be ours. Never doubt it," Correa wrote on Twitter. "Jorge, please, resist."